Farmers' adoption of digital technology and agricultural entrepreneurial willingness: Evidence from China

Abstract

Agricultural entrepreneurship significantly improves farmers' livelihoods and it also contributes toward poverty reduction. In the present study, we used the data of the China Household Finance Survey (CHFS 2019) as a sample, and empirically examined the dynamic linkages between adoption of digital technology (ADT) and farmers' agricultural entrepreneurial willingness (AEW). The findings of this study reveal that (1) the ADT significantly improved farmers' AEW by 18.5%; (2) the ADT more significantly affected the entrepreneurial willingness of farmers who live in less developed rural areas, or who preference for risk, or whose households have not been affected by major adverse events, or who belong to the rural elite; (3) digital financial participation plays a partial mediating effect of 11.7% in the effect of the ADT on farmers' AEW, with financial literacy and subjective well-being having moderating effects and reinforcing the effect of the ADT on farmers' AEW. Finally, we put forward several policy recommendations, such as narrowing the ‘three-level digital divide’, improving digital human capital, and developing digital inclusive finance to provide new ideas for farmer entrepreneurship, to enhance farmer's livelihood and to promote rural economic development.